Page Metadata

1 Queer Homes of Troglodytes of the Twentieth Century i r I e h r I L a 7 n t 7tim M pr t r + + fit Crr r I Kr r III I yI at t c it r P t If we draw a lino through Tarsus duo north across the Peninsula of Asia Minor and another through Smyrna directly east tho two lines will Intercept In tho volcanic region of Mount Argaeus where tho cone pyramids and pure cliff dwellings of Cappadocia are found writes J R Slttlngton Sterrett an English traveler trav-eler and artist who has recently visited vis-ited that out of the way country The whole region Is of volcanic formation which covers a vast area extending west to Selrao and south to Soghanlu Dere and is composed of a deep layer of pumice stone tufa or peperine overlaid In tho region of Tatlar by rugged lava fields The pumlco or tufa Is of almost Incredible thickness but the overlaid layer of lava Is comparatively com-paratively thin not more than three feet at any point The tufa is so soft that It can be dug away with the thumbnail so that only tlmo and patience wero necessary to excavate it Into chambers of any required size It is known that a chamber 25 feet long 13 feet broad and 10 feet high was excavated by a single workman in tho space of thirty days In this region tho troglodytes of Cappadocia havo the wonderful dwellings dwell-ings which wero first described by Paul Lukas who traveled In Asia Minor on tho commission of Louis XIV His story was discredited but It is correct in every vital particular and he perhaps understated tho truth when ho estimated the number of cones at 50000 The region was visited vis-ited In succession by Texler Hamilton Hamil-ton Tschlchatscheff Ainsworth Barth and Mordtmann but It is still virtually unknown The height of the cones varies greatly ranging perhaps per-haps from 50 to 300 feet Tho tallest tall-est cones usually stand in the center of rn eroded valley but not always Tho process of disintegration by tho solvent action of water still continues of course and In many cones the exterior ex-terior wall has been worn away to such tn extent that tho chambers are laid bare Such exposed chambers It they lie fairly In the sun are used for drying grapes and other fruit as they are safe against invasion by animals Often the cones are almost perfect In shape and originally all of them wero crowned by caps of lava which wero the primal cause of the cone formation The caps maintain their position as they form one integral Inte-gral conglomerate mass with the cone i A TROGLODYTE VILLAGEFROM A PHOTOGRAPH Very often the doorways are quite elaborate and display nn attempt at architectural and decorative effect moro especially In the case of cones that have been turned Into temples churches or chapels On entering the doorway of any of these cone dwellings we find ourselves within a spacious chamber about tho walls of which niches and shelves for time storage of small household effects have been cut Into the stone Time stairways leading to tho upper stories are like wells or round chimneys and one ascends to an upper story by I means of ladder holes cut In the rock The floor between the stories are usually usu-ally thick enough to withstand any weight that might be put upon It but occasionally the excavators miscalculated miscalcu-lated tho thickness of the floor and so had to make one lofty chamber instead In-stead of two As many as nine stories may occur in ono cone but most have only two three or four stories which can bo counted by the windows Great numbers of the cone dwellings aro used today as dovecotes for hosts of pigeons the eggs and flesh of which are used by tho cavo dwellers Tho windows of such pigeon houses are always walled in holes being left for tho passage of the birds The natives of this region are still to all Intents and purposes troglodytes troglo-dytes but if we leave out of consideration consid-eration the fact that their dwellings are at least partially underground they differ In habits and customs In no whit from tho ordinary Turkish villagers with ordinary humdrum surroundings sur-roundings Sometimes the front of tho house Is built of blocks of pum Ico stone while all the rest of tho abode Is subterranean the cone or cliff being used as nn annex but inmost in-most cases a modern dwelling Is excavated ex-cavated not In a cone but In the face of the bluff and thus becomes a cliff dwelling properly socalled This is true of tho business street of the town of Urgub where the front room or facade opening on the street Is tho only room in the dwelling into which tho light comes The other rooms aro in midnight darkness all tho year round The owner of such nn abode can extend his dwelling Indefinitely into tho bowels of tho earth a feature which Is not without Its advantage Inn In-n land where the wise man conceals tho fact that ho Is wealthy The Interior In-terior chambers are used chiefly for granaries and storage even their chaff which Is made to take tho place of our hay Is safely stowed away In these dry and dark chambers The landscapes amid which tho modern troglodyte dwells aro never tame and are often startling Tho modern troglodytlo usages add to rather than detract from tho general weirdness of the prospect The soil is fertile and produces vegetables and fruit chiefly apricots of superb quality qual-ity Indeed ono ot the old travelers claims this region as tho original homo of tho apricot Garden and I desert are often close neighbors for tho reason that tho garden flourishes whfl vcr the stone hats rotted suf lie ntly whereas the adjacent but mar eil and unrotted stone is tho most barren of deserts Tho real center of these cones and troglodytlc abodes Is tho region about Udj Assaru a huge mass of pumlco stono rising In tho midst of many branching valleys The Turkish namo means the Castle of Udj but It Is not known whether Udj was the name of some princeling i or of a district It is a mere shell honeycombed to the very pinnacle with chambers sufficient In number to satisfy even tho wealthiest troglodyte troglo-dyte It Is very difficult to fix a date for the origin of theso cave dwellings They aro mentioned by no classical author except perhaps Cicero but there Is an allusion In the works of Leo Dlaconus who flourished about 950 A D Prof Sayce however believes be-lieves that tho cones of Cappadocia wero well known and Inhabited In the Hittlto period about 1900 B CIt C-It date beyond which wo cannot and need not try to goNow York Times